Acetylene-gas generator.



Patented July I5, |902. F. L. KINCAID. ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR.

(Application Bled Nov. 2, 189B. B enewed Mar. 3, 1902.)

2 Sheats-Sheet l,

(Ilo Modal.) I

No. 704,967. Patentuduly l5, :902. F. L. KIM'QML'I.

ACETYLENE GAS GENEBATGR.

(Application led Nov. 2, 1898. Renewed Mar. 8, 1902.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.-

www 4 wd w (lo Model.)

UNITED STAT-Es PATENT OFFICE.

FRED L. KINOAID, on sTooKroN, OALIFOR'NA, AssIeNOR ToVPAcr-FIO'ACETY- LENE eAs COMPANY, or SAN FRANOISOQOALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

` A o ETYLENEf-G-.As ,c EN ERATOR.

srncrFIoArroN forming part of nettrsrfatent No. 704,967, datearniy 15, 1902. .Application filed November 2, 1898. Renewed March-3i 1902. Serial No. 96,577. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t may concern: Be it known that I .FRED L. KINCAID, a'citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Stockton, in the county of San Joaquin 5 and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Acetylene- Gas Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an xo automatic machine which can manufacture acetylene gas in large quantities. j

As is well known, acetylene gas is produced by the action of water on carbid of calcium. Heretofore it has been very difficult and for I5 practical purposes impossible to make this gas in any great quantity, because the chunks of carbid of calcium in the generator would soon become covered with a coating of residue, which would preventthe water from actzo ing upon the carbid. I have overcome the difficulty by inventing Va mechanismwhich turns over and stirs up the carbid at the vvery time the gas is most needed-towihas'the gasometer becomes empty. The stirring up is accomplished and the supply of water to the carbid is regulatedr by the fall of the inner tank of the gasometer. The faster the gasometer is emptied the faster the carbid is turned over and themore freely the water is 3o allowed to flow, consequently the more rapidly the gas is generated, all of which is more fully explained in the following specification.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the machine 3 5 complete, giving an endview of the generator and showing the mechanism which connects it with the gasometer. Fig. 2'is a top view of the constructionshown in Fig. l. Fig.' 3 is a side elevation, partly insection, of the 4o generator. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section of the generator, taken on the line X X in Fig. 3 and looking toward the end B of the generator. f

Throughout -this specification similar let ters refer to'similar parts.

The outside or shell A of the generator is ovoid in shape, is gas-tight, and is provided with heads B and C, bolted or riveted to each of its ends. The head B is fastened to the shell A by means of bolts which pass through Y said'head and through the iiange A2, which is riveted around the end of said shell. This head B isprovided with a manhole B2, through which the carbid can be shoveled into the carbid carrier, hereinafter described. The other end ofthe shell A is covered by the head C,which mayitself have a iiange G' and be bolted directly to the edge of the shell A or may be bolted to aC flange riveted to the shell," like thehead B. The head C is also provided witha manhole C2, directly opposite the one -in'B and similar to it. There is ashort cylindrical projection C3 on the lower part of the head C, in which one end of the screw conveyor D works. This cylinder C3 has'a separate head G4'of its own, which is fastenedto it by bolts which pass through the head C4 andthrough a' vflange C5, that projects outward from the edge of the cylinder 03,as shown in'Fig. 3. The covers of the ma'nholesiB?and()2 and the head CL are fastened, respectively, to the heads B and C and are adapted to be easily removedthe man hole-covers for the purpose of loading and reloading the generator with carbid of calcium,

slaked carbid or residue by the screw conveyer D. The shaft of this conveyor has a closed bearing D2 in the generator-head B, and the opposite end is journaled in ahanger D3, located inside the cylinder C3. The end of the screw-conveyor shaft which projects ceive a handLcrank, by means of which it is rotated.

The carbid carrier, hereinabove Vreferred to, is a traveling carrier and is made of iron slats E, which run the entire length of the inside of the shell-1A, simply leaving room enough at their ends to /preventf friction -against the heads B and C as the carrier moves.

to one another through the links of two sprocket-chains E2. The whole carrier thus made up is hung on sprocketwvhcels F and G. The ends of the several slats are fastened to the inner surface of the two sprocket-chains ll2 in such a manner that the slats lie side by the head C4 for the purpose of removing thev through the hanger D3 is'made square to re- The slats E a're'iiexibly connected or hingedV side, with suitable spaces between them, through which the residue falls as the carrier is turned. There are two sprocket-wheels F, and the same are fastened to a rotary shaft F2, one next to the inner surface of the head B, the other next to the inner surface of the head C. They are so placed that the ends of the carbid-carrier will ride on them, the slats E falling successively between their teeth and bearing on their periphery as the shaft F2 is rotated. The slats E are also carried around the two sprocket-wheels G, which t loosely on a stationary hollow shaft G2 and which are located similarly to the sprocket-wheels F. The rotary shaft F2 has a closed bearing F3 in the generator-head B, passes through the stuffing-box F4 in the generator-head C, and has abearing in the bracket H. The hollow shaft has a cl-osed bearing G3 in the generator-head B, passes through the head C, and connects with the Water-supply pipe G4. This shaft has a line of perforations G5 running throughout its length inside the shell A and is the means by which the Water is conveyed to the carbid in the carrier.

The rotary shaft F2 is moved by means of a ratchet-wheel I, which is keyed to it and revolves within the bracket H. I have provided a lever I2 and pawl I2 to rotate said ratchet Wheel. This lever is fulcrumed loosely within the bracketH on the solid shaft F2, so that its long arm reaches out toward the gasometer K. A rod J is attached to the top of the inner tank of the gasometer and passes downward through a guide J2, extending outward from the top of the outer tank of th'e gasometer, and thence through a slot I4 in the end of the long arm of lever I2. The rod J has two collars J 3 and J 4, one above and one below the said slot, so that as the inner tank rises or falls the lever I2 is accordingly worked up or down by the rod J. The object of the slot in said long arm of I2 is to give the lever freeplay and to allow the rod J to work straight up and down. I operate through the same mechanism the cock L, which controls the water-supply. This cock is opened and closed by a forked lever L2, the branches of which are so turned and situated that they are alternately engaged by a pin I5 on the short arm of the lever I2 as it swings up and down.

M is the exit-pipe that conducts the gas from the generator to the gasometer. It is connected with the upper part of the generator and thence runs down by the side of the machine to the bottom of the outer tank of the gasometer. It is provided at its lowest part with a trap M2, which receives the condensation from the gas. This trap has a cock M2, by means of which it may be drained.

In operation my invention works as follows: One of the manholes B2 or C2 is opened and the carbid of calcium is shoveled into the carbid-carrier, as shown in Fig. 4. The mana hole-cover is then replaced and the water allowed to spray on the carbid in the carrier, whereupon the gas is immediately generated and passes o through the exit-pipe M. Thence the gas goes to the gasometer. As the gasometer becomes full the inner tank rises and the rod J, attached to it, lifts the long arm of the lever I2. The pawl I3 slides freely over the teeth of the ratchet-wheel I while said long arm is being raised, and at the same time the short arm of I2 is being depressed and is gradually shutting oif the water-supply until the gasometer is about half filled, when the water is completely shut off, the pin I5 that is on the short arm of I2 being then disengaged from the forked lever L2. The long arm of I2 continues to rise and the pawl to slide on the teeth of the ratchet-wheel until the gasometer has risen to its maximum height. As the gas is consumed the inner tank of the gasometer falls and also forces the long arm of the lever I2 down, causing the pawl I3 to engage the teeth of the ratchetwheel I and rotate the solid shaft F2, which revolves the sprocket-wheels F, that engage the slats composing the carrier. Moving these wheels F around moves the whole carrier around and tumbles the chunks of carbid over and over until the residue, with which they became coated while the gas was being generated, falls through the spaces between the slats E, down around the screw conveyer D. At about the same time this operation is completed the short arm of the lever I2 has risen high enough toengage again the forked lever L2 and gradually opens the cock L, thereby turning on the water to generate more gas. The water is thus turned on when the gasometer is nearly empty and after the carbid has been thoroughly shaken up to free it from its coating of residue.

The main virtue of my invention lies in the fact that it can generate acetylene gas on a large scale and is so constructed that it automatically regulates the supply of water and shakes up the carbid-*all by the rise and fall of the inner tank of the gasometer. It causes the gas to be generated most freely at the very time it is most needed-viz., as the gasa ometer becomes empty.

It will be understood that mylinvention would accomplish the same purpose and operate fully as well were the turning of the carrier and stirring of the carbid therein effected through the rise instead of the fall of the inner tank of the gasometer and also that other mechanical means than those described could be employed to work the carbid-carrier and the parts cooperating therewith. Therefore I do not wish to limit my invention to the mode of operation nor to the exact forms of operating .connections described.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Path ent of the United States, isL

1. A gas apparatus comprising a generator, a rotary shaft therein having suitable driv IOC IIC

`ing-wheels,a spray-pipe running parallel with said shaft in the generator and carrying driven wheels, a carrier composed of hinged slats hung on the driving and the driven wheels, and means to rotate said shaft, substantially as described.

' 2. A gas apparatus comprising a generator, atraveling carbid-carrier composed of hinged slats suspended at a suitable height therein, a spray device arranged to throw water upon the live carbid in the carrier, and a screw conveyer located beneath the carrier and adapted to remove from the generator the slaked carbid that falls through the spaces between the hinged slats of the carrier, substantially as described. Y

3. A gas apparatus comprising a generator, shafts placed parallel therein, sprocketwheels fast on one of said shafts, sprocketwheels loose on the other one of said shafts, a carbid-carrier composed of fiexiblyiconnected slats hung on said sprocket-wheels, a gasometer, a pawl-and-ratchet mechanism connected with the shaft that carries the fixed sprocketwheels, and connections between the gasome'- ter and the pawl and a ratchet mechanism whereby the latter is operated and the car trolling the iiow of water to the spray-pipe, a

lever arranged to work both the pawl and the water-cock, and means, such as a rod, to swing said lever through the rise and fall of the gasometer, substantially as described.

5. In a gas apparatus, the combination of a generator-casing, a shaft therein having driving-wheels, a spray-pipe parallel with said shaft and carrying driven wheels, a flexible.

carrier hun g on said wheels, and means for opa erating said shaft, substantially as described. Signed by me at San Francisco, California, this 22d day of October, 1898. Y

v FRED L. KINCAID. [1.. s] Witnesses:

CARRIE C; Knvcnin, JANE G.' STEfMAnIE. 

